Apparatus for handling metallic leaf.



L. M. HARWOOD.

APPARATUS FQR HANDLING METALUC LEAF. APPLICATION FILED JULY 3.1915.

1, Q,?5,, atentedlune 5, 1917.

,zg I v4 F 1 i4; INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

LEON MARTINl-IARWOOD, oFfiPRIN-GFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING METIALIZIC LEAF.

Leas es.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented as... "5, 19117.

Application filedrJ'uly 3, 1916. Serial No. 107,375.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LnoN- MARTIN HAR- W001), a citizen of the United States of America, residing in- Springfiel'd, in the county of H 'ampdenand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Handling Metallic Leaf, of which is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for handling metallic leaf, such as gold leaf, for example, and more particularly to im proved devices for lifting, transferring, and depositing metallic leaf in a new and advantageous manner.

The means heretofore employed for handling the leaf during the processpf manufacture has consisted of long narrow wooden pincers, and the general practice has been to lift the beaten leaf from the skins with these pincer-s and carry it to a suitable cut-- ting table. After the cutting operation, the leaf has customarily been handled and packed between: leaves of tissue with thesame implement. This method of handling the leaf, although satisfactory, requires Skilled operators for successful results as careful manipulation of the leaf is'necessary and, moreover, is not suitable for rapid handling of the leaf. This invention: is concorned with the elimination of the disadvam tageous features hitherto experienced in han'dlingmetallic leaf and with the provision of improved apparatus, whereby the leaf'may be expeditiously and successfully handled event by unskilled operator-st An object of this'invention isto provide an improved apparatus for handling metallic leaf which consists'ofa leaf attraction member, adapted to be electrified or charged by suitablemeans so that the leaf may be attracted to and held tofthe member, to"- gether with means to release the leaf from the memberso that it may he depositeda Another object of the invention is to pro vide an improved device for lifting metallic leaf, which consists of a suitable attractor and conductingmembers thereon adapted to be oppositely electrified and thereafter brought intopnoxiinity to the leaf, whereby the latter may be attracted and: held to the carrier.

A further objectv of the invention is to provide apparatus ofthe class described, which comprises a leaf attraction: member,

, together with mechanism to electrify said the following member while positioned over the leaf so that the latter may be attractedv to and thereafter li'ted by the carrier.

(Ether objects and advantages will appear in the detailed description to follow and in the appended claims.

For'the purpose of illustratingcone way in whichthe invention may be practised, a preferred embodiment thereof is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 are plan and side elevatio'nal views respectively of the leaf attractor;

.Fig. 3 is a. plan view showing the attractor positioned upon the leaf bed Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line H of Fig. 3

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a second bed' to which the leaf is tobe moved;

Fig. 6. is a cross sectional View taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view showing a modi fi'cation of the strnctureshown in Fig. 5

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on the line/8 80f Fig. 7

F ig: 9 is: a cation in the leaf lifting apparatus;

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view taken on theline 10-10of Fig. 9"; and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the attractor illustrative of the lifting operation.

The apparatus h'as been illustrated in. the drawings and will be described for illustrative' purposesin "connection with. one: of its specific uses, viz., in lifting: metallic leaf from a package, consisting "of alternate layers of metallic leaf and tissue,- and in transferring and depositing the leaf to and upon a table or the: cutting; operation. It is to be understood, however; that the apparatus: is capa' ble of other usesthan the specific one to: be

other suitable means forplan view showing a modifihereinafter described simply for the purmateriali Other means of mounting: the

bemounted in tubes l7: "of insulating into contact with the and 1, 19 represents a conductors may be employed as desired. The conductors 16 are arranged longitudinally with respect to member 15 and extend beyond the latter in diverging relation, as shown in Fig. 1. The divergent extensions of conductors 16 are adapted to be brought discharge terminals of a suitable source of electricity for the purpose of charging or electrifying the conductors. For example, the ends of the latter maybe engaged with the ball terminals 18 shown in Fig. 1, which terminals may be considered as a part of the well known static or influence machine. The particular source of electricity employed, however, is immaterial and any of the devices known in the art may be used, as desired.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 3

table or other suitable bed upon which a package, consisting of alternate leaves of tissue 21 and metallic leaf 20, may be placed. It is desired to lift the uppermost metallic leaf without disturbing the remainder of the package'and to accomplish this purpose the attractor 15, the conductors 16 of which have previously been electrified, is laid upon the metallic leaf closely adjacent one end thereof, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4c. The attracting device is first. laid down so that one conductor 16 is in prox'mity with the leaf to be lifted and after the leaf has been I attracted is turned until the other con- I site charge,

ductor, which is electrified with an oppocomes into proximity with" the leaf. The oppositely electrified members 1.6 constitute a condenser and a preliminary discharge takes place through the metallic leaf 20. The theory of the action, so far as I understand it, is that the leaf is held to the attractor by a residual or bound charge which exists after the preliminary heavy discharge has taken place. The attractor, "electrified with a single charge, would attract the leaf by influence, the rubher or other material of the device coming in contact with the leaf acting as a dielectric medium.

The leaf thus attracted to the member 15 may be lifted free from the package and transferred to any desired position for the cutting operation, and it next'becomes necessary to free the leaf from the attractor so that it'may be deposited upon the cutting table. This operation may be accomplished in various ways, such as by blowing upon the leaf or by touching the leaf to remove the charge therein, but in practical operation it has been found more expedient to employ other means which will now be described. In Figs. 5 and 6, "a suitable cutting table or bed 22 is provided with rows of perforations 23 which communicate with a suction box 24: below the table.

- positioned Preferably, at least two rows of perforations should be employed, and the arrange ment shown in Fig. 5 has been found satisfactory. As there shown, the two rows of perforations are so arranged that, when the leaf 20 isdeposited on the table, each un': derlies the leaf closely adjacent an edge thereof. A pipe 25, having a suitable two way valve 26 interposed therein, leads from box 2% and is adapted for connection to any suitable source of suction. Another desirable means to free the leaf 20 from the attractor 15 is shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Secured to the top of a cutting table 22 (preferably flush with the upper surface thereof) is a conducting plate 27 a portion of which is adapted to underlie the leaf 20, as shown in Fig. 7. Fixed to plate 27 is a metallic rod 28 and upwardly extending from the latter are a series of finely pointed conducting pins 29. The leaf, when deposited on table 22, contacts at one edge with plate 27, and the latter becomes electrified. The charge imparted to the plate 27 is, however, quickly dissipated by the sharply pointed members 29 and the leaf 20 is therebyfreed from the attractor 15. If desired, the device just described may be mounted on table 22 so that either or both separating means may be used.

It may be preferable, on acount of the saving in time, .to electrify the attractor when 6 upon the leaf prior to the lifting operation, and it isalso desirable to be able to control the degree of electrification imparted to the attractor. A modificationof the apparatus, wherein these objects may be accomplished, is shown in Figs. 9, 10, and 11. A pair of standards 30 of insulating material are placed upon a table 19 which is adapted to receive the package of metallic leaf packed in tissue. Mounted in the upper end of each standard is a cross bar 31 having a ball 32 at each end thereof. One ball 32 of each bar is adapted to be placed either in contact with a discharge terminal 3 1- of a suitable source of electricity or at a slight distance from the terminal depending on the strength of the charge which it is desired to impart. By this means, the degree of elec trification to be imparted to the conductors 16 maybe controlled. identical with that described except that it may be necessary to bend the extended portions of conductors 16 upwardly to some extent, as shown in Fig. 10, and the angular spacing of the conductors 16 with respect to member 15 is preferably less than that shown in Fig. t'for a reason to appear. In using this form of apparatus, the attractor 15 is laid upon the leaf 20 as before but is placed so that the ends of the conductors 16 do not quite engage the cross bars 31 as shown in Fig. 10 and so that the attractor contacts with theleaf along a line outside the con- The attractor 15 is ductors. Then the attractor is slightly rolled on the leaf in one direction to bring one conductor close to the leaf, and the extension of the conductor into engagement with its cross bar 31, whereby that conductor is electrified and the leaf attracted thereto. By further rolling the attractor on the leaf, the other conductor 16 will similarly be brought close to the leaf and also in contact with its bar 31, whereupon it is charged and attracts the leaf. The remaining operations of transferring the leaf to the cutting table or other point are the sameas already described.

By metallic leaf, I refer to the beaten leaf of gold, silver, or aluminum, as used in the art, together with their substitutes, which may be handled by the attractor when it is statically electrified.

The invention has been described in one preferred form with detailed variations for the purposes of illustration, but the scope of the invention isdefined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing de scription.

What I claim is- 1. A device for handling metallic leaf having dielectric material on its outer surface adapted to come in contact with the leaf, and a conductor positioned so that the dielectric material is between it and the leaf to be handled, said conductor adapted to be electrified, whereby the charge thereon may act inductively to attract the leaf.

2. A device for lifting metallic leaf from the .package, comprising, an attractor having conductors separated by insulating material and adapted to be electrified with 0pposite charges, both of said conductors adapted to attract and hold to the attractor 40 the uppermost leaf of a package with a minimum inductive effect upon remaining leaves.

3. A device for handling metallic leaf, comprising, a suitable carrier, and two conductors mounted thereon and insulated one from the other,'said conductors adapted to be oppositely electrified and brought into proximity with the leaf, whereby the latter is attracted and held to the carrier.

4. A device for handling metallic leaf, comprising, a suitable device and two conductors mounted thereon and insulated one from the other, said conductors having p0rtions extending beyond an end of the device adapted to be oppositely electrified, whereby, when the conductors are brought into proximity with the leaf, the latter is attracted and held to the carrier.

5. A device for handling metallic leaf, comprising, two conductors, one insulated from the other to form a condenser arranged for charging, and an insulated handle portion by which the conductors may be positioned to attract a leaf, whereby the condenser may discharge through the leaf after the conductors have attracted it and the residual charge of the condenser used to hold the leaf ,to the device for handling,

LEON MARTIN HARVVOOD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

